England players will not get rest

14 February 2006 15:30pm

England head coach Andy Robinson will spend all of March 4 with his fingers tightly crossed after Premier Rugby confirmed Wasps, Leicester and Bath will field full-strength sides for the Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-finals.

Over half of Robinson's first-choice XV will be in action at the Millennium Stadium - where Leicester meet Wasps and Bath face Llanelli - just a week before England take on France in a vital RBS 6 Nations clash in Paris.

Robinson wants his England stars to be rested the week before Test matches to extend preparation time and reduce the chances of injury but, under the current agreement, the Rugby Football Union cannot demand clubs leave out their international players.

Nevertheless, fans were still confused by the situation and were reluctant to buy tickets for the semi-final double-header until they received some clarification.

With 30,000 tickets still available, Premier Rugby decided to re-confirm the likes of Martin Corry, Lawrence Dallaglio and Steve Borthwick will be available for semi-final duty.

Premier Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty said: "We felt it was vitally important that rugby fans were assured that clubs will be playing to full strength on the day and that their internationals would be available for selection in these key matches.

Wales head coach Mike Ruddock is in a much stronger position than Robinson and will not risk his side's RBS 6 Nations title defence by releasing any Llanelli players for the semi-final.

The Scarlets could conceivably find themselves without Matthew Watkins, Mark Jones, Dwayne Peel and Dafydd Jones for their clash with Bath.

But Ruddock said: "As things stand, we have an agreement between the Wales team management and the four Welsh regions whereby on any weekend prior to a Wales international, the Welsh-based players selected within the starting XV for Wales will stand down for their region.

"Given our current injury and availability problems, it is difficult to envisage going outside of the agreement without risking putting Wales in serious jeopardy for the remainder of the Six Nations."

After losing their Under-20s Six Nations crown to England Under-20s in a thrilling final round, France Under-20s lock Tristan Labouteley insists his side will be out for revenge at this year's Junior World Championship.